Movie review: ‘The Big Sick’ mixes heart, humor

Wednesday

Jun 28, 2017 at 11:43 AMJun 28, 2017 at 11:46 AM

Dana Barbuto More Content Now

The romantic comedy “The Big Sick” is a healthy reminder of how vulnerable, sweet and bittersweet love, in all its forms, can be. Written by Kumail Nanjiani (“Silicon Valley”) and his wife, Emily V. Gordon, the movie is based on their real-life courtship.

Nanjiani (playing himself, charmingly) and Gordon (Zoe Kazan, adorable) meet cute in Chicago at one of his stand-up gigs. They date. Decide to not date. Then date again. Then ... you get the picture. They joke about their fear of commitment — the last thing either of them wants. The first half of the film chronicles — with a lot of humor and pathos — the push-pull of their new relationship, one that proud Pakistan-born Kumail is hiding from his traditional Muslim parents.

They give him a mulligan on the whole stand-up comedy thing, but they still expect to arrange his marriage, as they successfully did for his brother, Naveed (Adeel Akhtar, hysterical). Seems at each family dinner an eligible Pakistani female suddenly shows up, head shot and stats in hand, ready to pass the compatibility test. It’s happened so often that Kumail has their resumes tucked inside a cigar box on his nightstand. You can imagine Emily’s reaction when she opens the (Pandora’s) box. “Are you judging Pakistan’s Next Top Model?” Emily shouts before storming out.

As the title suggests, Emily falls ill and ends up in a medically induced coma through much of the second half of the film. Enter Oscar-winner Holly Hunter (“The Piano”) and comedian Ray Romano (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) to interact with Kumail as Emily’s parents. Much of the humor in “The Big Sick” stems from Kumail’s culture clash with both sets of parents. Director Michael Showalter (“Hello, My Name is Doris”), with an assist from producer Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up”) doesn’t exploit this; instead he portrays the families with depth and dimension. We learn stuff about their lives and motivations; they’re not just cookie-cutter Mom and Dad parts. Bollywood legend, Anupam Kher, plays Kumail’s endearing father, struggling to understand his son’s choices. In one moving scene, he tells Kumail he’s trying to forgive him and then hands over a meal Kumail’s mother (Zenobia Shroff) cooked. That gesture speaks volumes about how his family winds its way through his life. Parents get mad, but still nurture.

Being accepted by Emily’s parents is equally tricky. They tolerate Kumail — and him, them — while passing hours of time in hospital waiting rooms. “You can go now,” says Terry (Romano) upon his arrival. Hell of a way to meet your girlfriend’s parents. Later, when he realizes Kumail isn’t going anywhere, Terry takes pity and decides to start a conversation, bringing up 9/11. Kumail replies: “It was a tragedy. We lost 19 of our best guys.” It’s an audacious joke, but finally breaks the ice. The relationship deepens and Kumail experiences touching moments with each of them.

Like past Apatow comedies, “The Big Sick” mixes heart and humor. It is a multilayered romantic comedy that doesn’t sacrifice sentiment for the sake of its jokes. It helps that the story is a true original — one that you have to really see to believe.

— Dana Barbuto may be reached at dbarbuto@ledger.com or follow her on Twitter @dbarbuto_Ledger.